FORT PIERCE, Fla. (WFLA) — A truck driver has been charged with vehicular homicide after a crash in Fort Pierce, Florida, that killed three people.
On Tuesday, August 12, Harjinder Singh, a 28-year-old from California, was driving a semi-truck on the Florida Turnpike in St. Lucie County, the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles said.
The Florida Highway Patrol said the semi-truck was in the right lane and a Chrysler minivan was in the left lane when the truck tried to make a U-turn at a turnaround path. The path had a no U-turn sign posted, which said “official use only.” Similar paths can be found across the state and are meant to be used only by emergency vehicles.
When the truck attempted the turn, it crossed directly in the path of the minivan, which was unable to slow down in time and became wedged under the truck.
The crash closed all northbound lanes on the Florida Turnpike for a few hours as first responders worked to get the trapped people out of the minivan and clear the area of debris.
The two passengers died at the scene, while the driver was taken to a nearby hospital, where he later died of his injuries.
The minivan driver was identified as a 30-year-old Florida City man, and the two passengers were identified as a 37-year-old Pompano Beach woman and a 54-year-old Miami man. The semi-truck driver and the passenger with him did not sustain any injuries, FHP said.
FLHSMV said investigators later learned Singh, the semi-truck driver, entered the U.S. illegally in 2018 when he crossed the Mexico border. He then got a Commercial Driver’s License in California, the department said in a press release on Saturday.
Singh has been charged with three counts of vehicular homicide and is being held on an ICE detainer, FLHSMV said.
“The actions taken by the Defendant while operating a commercial tractor-trailer are both shocking and criminal,” FLHSMV Director Dave Kerner said. “Three people lost their lives as a result of his recklessness, and countless friends and family members will experience the pain of their loss forever.”